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In this photo taken Sept. 7, 2011, Catholics attend an open air Mass at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At the start of the last decade, millions of Brazilian Catholics joined flashy Pentecostal congregations expanding in the world's biggest Catholic country. Now, a new study by Brazil's top research institute finds the country's Catholics are still leaving the church and at a higher rate than ever, but many younger parishioners are simply becoming nonreligious. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
/ AP